Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Canadian Manifesto: Introduction

The Canadian Manifesto: How the American Neoconservatives Stole My Country

Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott's administrative assistant, Timothy Bloedow, once accused me of hating Christians. I had begun to blog on the activities of Canada's Christian Right, admittedly often in a frenzied fashion, born out of both anger and fear.

Anger over their assumption that the majority of Canadians were morally bereft, and fear of the apparent growth of the "dominionist" or "reconstructionist" movement, that sought to turn Canada into a theocracy.

Theology professor, Dr. John Stackhouse confirms those fears: "There are Christians about whom even other Christians should be wary, especially those who talk about things like theocracy and Christian government."

Bloedow runs a website called christiangovernance.ca, promoting just those things that we should be wary of. And his boss, Maurice Vellacott, is a central figure in Canada's Religious Right. His offices on Parliament Hill have become a sort of meeting place for fellow travellers.

The Christian Manifesto

Every movement promoting revolutionary change, has some kind of manifesto. A declaration of principles and intentions.

In his book Faith in the Halls of Power, D. Michael Lindsay reveals that the Moral Majority/Religious Right, was inspired by Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984), and that his book A Christian Manifesto, became the declaration for their movement.

Schaeffer was a Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, who was vehemently opposed to religious modernism. Schaeffer and his wife ran a commune in Switzerland, called L'Abri, and many famous Christian Right leaders passed through their doors.

It was here where they nursed the idea of a "second American Revolution". This time they would not be taking on the British, but the secular Humanists, reclaiming the United States for Christianity.

The Canadian Manifesto

Most of the tenets and tentacles of the American Religious Right, simply crossed the border into Canada, finding willing partners within a small group of Orthodox Christians, with the same goal of "taking their country back".

American James Dobson provided $1.6 million to bolster the activities of Focus on the Family Canada, and two members of the Board of Directors, Tom Mason and Jim Daly, are also vice-presidents of Focus on the Family in the United States.

A small group of Canadian fundamentalists visited a Washington conference of the Christian Coalition, and brought back what they learned, establishing the Canadian Christian Coalition. One member of that group was Jason Kenney, now a cabinet minister in the Harper government.

Christian Coalition's Ralph Reed, has also spoke in Canada, as part of the training of our religious political activists.

Faytene Kryskow Grasseschi's 4MYCanada, hosts events called TheCry. Hours of emotional prayers, begging God's mercy for the horrible country that Canada has become. They are a version of American Evangelist Lou Engle's TheCall. Engle refers to Faytene as "his daughter" and has often made appearances with her, both live and by video stream.

He has also rallied his followers to go to Canada to increase the numbers at her rallies, giving the appearance of mass 'Canadian' anger.

American Bill McCartney's Promise Keepers, a group promoting male dominance, was brought to Canada by another Conservative MP, David Sweet.

However, the shared support system, does not stop at religious organizations. Think tanks, corporate media, publishing houses, Astroturf groups, have all infested our political system and threaten our democracy.

American Morton Blackwell, who started the Leadership Institute that trains young conservative activists, helped Preston Manning establish the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

Lewis F. Powell, an associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice, appointed by Richard Nixon, helped Michael Walker establish the Fraser Institute. The Fraser is also heavily financed by the American tobacco industry.

The National Citizens Coalition has strong ties with the American Republicans. McLaughlin* and Associates, a Republican polling firm, handles most of their campaigns, and Richard Nixon's former guru, Arthur Finklestein, worked for the NCC for sixteen years, training Stephen Harper in the art of anti-liberalism.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation, which was started by Conservative MP John Weston, is fashioned after the American Federalist Society, home of Kenneth Starr, head witch hunter, in the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton.

The CCF also joined forces with Americans for Prosperity, the organization that launched the Tea Party, founded by the infamous Koch brothers; in trying to put a halt to Obama's healthcare plan. They brought "client" Shona Holmes to the U.S. where she appeared in TV ads, suggesting that she would have died under Canada's healthcare system, had she not gone to the U.S. for treatment of a malignant cancer. The whole thing turned out to be a hoax.

We may have won the War of 1812, that helped to establish Canadian sovereignty, but with the help of Canadian Neoconservatives (a marriage between the "new conservatism" and the Religious Right), there is a concerted effort to give it back.

That doesn't mean that they are trying to create a fifty-first state. Like the old saying "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". To them we are just another third world country, so they need to have an authoritative leader in place who will do as they're told.

We are being remodelled for the financial interests of the American corporate sector.

A Canadian Manifesto, detailing the attempted U.S. (conservative) takeover of Canada, and the Canadian players who not only allowed it, but encouraged it.

Footnotes:

*John McLaughlin, a partner in McLaughlin and Associates, personally handled Stephen Harper's 2003 campaign that gave him the leadership of the Reform-Alliance Party (now The Conservative Party of Canada). Harper still refuses to tell us who financed that campaign, leading to speculation that not all benefactors were Canadian.

4 comments:

I've been saying it for years, the only enemies Canada has are those living south of the border, and nobody listened. I just didn't have the foresight to see they would use religion to accomplish their objectives.Funded by the American tobacco industry? Really? That is appalling, Emily. And very few Canadians are going to pay attention unless the anti-Harpies have a whole lot of money to throw at the problem, which we haven't.Heaven help us (pun intended) if they succeed. Fortunately, for the next year at least, the American president has no interest in taking over Canada.

After 20 years of Conservative domination of the US Judicial system and Poliitical system the Neocons have driven a once prosperous nation into the ground. While captains of industry were blaming labour for the failures of management . Management was bereft of the most basic of business skills. They were good at taking bonuses, German cars, and club memberships.

Now Canada is about to go down the very same path based on the very same disastrous ideas and visions. The neocons have no idea of wealth creation they believe in wealth appropriation. That is why they have failed the US and the are failing Canadians. Neocons are reactionaries and they will never build a nation. They are philosophically incapable of dealing with change. Change is one of natures basic tenets and neocons want to stop the clock and deny change. Actually they wish to roll the clock back. Obviously they cannot govern in an environment that requires adaptation to change.

It's time for Americans and Canadians to wake up to this basic flaw in their chosen leaders and shove them aside. They will fight but they are outnumbered. Be prepared for a dirty fight. They have shown what they are capable of in the US and they will not hesitate to do the same in Canada.

No matter what they say ,they must go if Canada is to survive in the 21st Century